Murray looks back with satisfaction

Perhaps it was the low-key surroundings of Mons that had given the 18-year-old Scot time to think - he had spent several days playing a Challenger event in a provincial, blue-collar Belgian town which does not merit more than a few paragraphs in an extensive guide book on Belgium.

Murray said:

I'm still shy around everyone as I don't really know anyone and I still have a lot of respect for them. I'm pretty happy with how the guys are treating me - everyone has been pretty friendly, and especially Federer.

Federer has said nice things about me and he's always coming up to me to say, 'Hi'. That feels nice as it is like the players are starting to know who I am.

Playing against Federer was the one match when I didn't have a game plan. I had watched him on TV and everyone was saying to me, 'He's so good and does everything so well'. So it was difficult to know what shot to go on, so I just went out and tried to stay with him. Afterwards I thought that, yeah, Federer is an incredible player, but I didn't come off the court thinking, 'Gee, he's so much better than me'. It's exciting for me that I pushed him close when I still have so much to work on and when I am just starting out on my tennis career.